Almost every golfer they played alongside Tiger Woods you can remember what that emotion felt like. Fans everywhere. He constantly yells and screams for Woods’ attention. It can be a lot.
PGA Tour veteran Brendon de Jonge, now 46, remembers it well.
De Jonge joined this week Subpar podcast to discuss the upcoming Presidents Cup (he was a former member of the International team) and also reminisced about playing with Woods.
At the 2012 AT&T National at the Congressional Country Club in Washington, DC, de Jonge played his way into Sunday’s final three-way tie with Woods and Bo Van Pelt. A storm tore through the area during the tournament, so spectators were not allowed on the course Saturday. All those tickets, however, were honored on Sunday, meaning even more fans were on site for the final round.
“I got to the first tee, and I’ve never seen so many people in my life,” said de Jonge. “I was so scared, it was so intimidating. I mean we had double the fans that we would have otherwise for the honor of those tickets. I didn’t have the best start, I didn’t play that well, unfortunately, but I had to see what Tiger was all about with the head.
“I remember so vividly, that for the first nine holes, he would put it up there about a foot away from the hole, and mark, and wait, because he knew that as soon as he touched, everyone was going to take off (to the next tee). He would mark, he was very polite, he would let us try and put. He would go up there and hit. As soon as he hits, of course, everyone starts running. So you stand on your putt and you are looking, look in high, and all you see is just bodies moving all over the place.
Subpar co-host Colt Knost said he never played with Woods, but the first time he walked inside the ropes as a reporter on the course with Tiger he was shot.
“You can’t describe what the atmosphere is like around Tiger,” Knost said. “Some of these players who complain about everything that happens, the noise, you have no idea what it is until you sit with that guy. It’s crazy what it’s like to try to play next to him.”
So crazy, in fact, that de Jonge even said he asked Woods that day in Congress if he ever got sick of all the noise and craziness that surrounded him.
“He just kind of looked at me and said, ‘What are you talking about?’ ” said de Jonge. “I was like, okay, I think you’re able to block this.”
